What is Searchlight on Campaign 2001?Searchlight
on Campaign 2001 is a guide to the political races in what
many are calling New York City's most significant campaign
season in modern history.

What is so significant about it?For
the first time in memory, most political offices in the city
will be wide open to people who have neither money nor connections.

Why will the races be so open?There
are two reasons. This year, a new law goes into effect that
limits the terms of New York City elected officials, forcing
the mass retirement of most incumbents in the city - including
the mayor, the comptroller, the public advocate, four of the
five borough presidents, and 36 of the 51 members of the City
Council. At the same time, a new campaign finance law kicks
in, which allows any candidate who agrees to certain restrictions
to collect four dollars of matching funds for every dollar
they raise.

What does this have to do with this site?As
a public service, Searchlight on Campaign 2001 has a separate
page for each race, including all the races for City Council,
that not only sorts out the candidates -- many of them new
and unfamiliar -- but also offers an opportunity to learn
about the issues, and the districts themselves.

Who is behind Searchlight on Campaign 2001?
Searchlight
on Campaign 2001 is a project of Gotham Gazette, a non-profit,
non-partisan, non-ideological (but non-boring) web site about
New York City news, policy and politics published by Citizens
Union Foundation, part of the oldest and largest good-government
group in the city (founded in 1897).

What's wrong with the way the regular press
covers the races?That
is for you to decide. And one of our regular features, Campaign
Trail, helps you to decide. Campaign Trail provides succinct
summaries and links to campaign articles in the commercial
press.

Amadou Diallo's soft brown eyes look over the corner of Wheeler
and Westchester Avenue in the South Bronx.

The mural, over 20 feet in size, shows Diallo's face and his
gravestone, and the words "The American Dream" in red, white and
blue lettering. But the mural is not just a memorial for Diallo;
it is an angry denunciation of the police: There are four police
officers in Ku Klux Klan hoods, and the Statue of Liberty is holding
a gun.

Since its unveiling in April, unknown vandals have defaced the
mural, or painted over it. But each time the Harlem artist who
painted it, Hulbert Waldroup, returns within a few hours, and
does it all over again.

The mural is just the most visible evidence that the Diallo incident
is still alive and vivid in this neighborhood, where in 1999 the
unarmed West African immigrant was shot and killed in the vestibule
of his apartment building on Wheeler Avenue, in a shower of 41
bullets fired by four white poli ce officers, who had mistaken
him for a criminal and his wallet for a gun.

For
more information on this district -- its schools, its crime
statistics and more -- click here.

Although community relations with the police have improved since
the Diallo incident, the candidates running for City Council in
the district say that the issue of police distrust still exists,
especially since the four police officers involved in the shooting
were acquitted of all state charges in February 2000.

Community leaders praise Deputy Inspector Michael Phips at the
43rd precinct, who was appointed after the Diallo shooting, for
his new "open-door policy" and for welcoming community members
to call him directly.

"Relations have improved somewhat, but we still have a long
way to go," said the Reverend Ruben Diaz, one of the four candidates.

"Soundview was portrayed as the worst neighborhood in the city;
it's not even the worst in the Bronx," said Rodriguez. "That is
insulting to me and my commu nity. We are as good as any other
community, with the same kind of people. I'm not afraid to walk
down Wheeler Avenue at any time of the day."

But while City Council candidates want to keep Diallo's memory
alive, as a reminder about the neighborhood's history with police
brutality, they also want to address other issues in their campaigns.

Both Diaz and Rodriguez said that improving education and funding
for after school programs are their top priority for the community
now. (The other two candidates, Hilda Hernandez and Luis Diaz,
could not be reached).

Though the area has one of the largest growing populations of
school age children in the city, the funding for after-school
programs is less than almost half the other districts in the city.

"We don't have a recreational facility for students, a place
where they can go after school and be off the streets, doing something
constructive," Rodriguez said.

Diaz said the school age population is growing rapidly in the
Bronx because of new home construction, which is good for the
area, but the school construction has not kept pace.

"We've been promised another high school for 10 years, but we're
still waiting for that to be built," said Rodriguez, who has been
chairman of community board 9 for eight years. "We need more beacon
schools and an elementary school too."

Some community leaders have criticized current Councilmember
Lucy Cruz, who was elected in 1991, for the stagnant state of
education and youth programs in the district and blame her for
lax participation in community affairs in the last few years.
Cruz, who has been battling ongoing illness in recent years, is
seldom seen at City Hall.

In a recent protest in front of a Bronx school where a teacher
was accused of sexually assaulting students, Diaz charged that
the Board of Education is incompetent and unaccountable, and called
for abolishing it, replacing it with a commissioner who is appointed
by the mayor.

Rodriguez doesn't think the Board of Education should be abolished.
One of her main goals is to improve parent participation in the
children's education. "Before you make the parents accountable
the parents have to be educated with the new material that kids
are being taught. My older son had to help my younger son because
I didn't know this math."

Diaz, who is the president of the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization,
frequently appears at television press conferences about Bronx
issues, but his activism is not without controversy. In 1996 he
was forced to resign from the Civilian Complaint Review Board,
after publicly announcing his religious objections to homosexuality.

That is why it came as a surprise to some when the Bronx Democratic
Party decided to endorse Diaz as their official candidate, because
the party had been one of the key groups that called for his removal
from the board.

The Civilian Complaint Review Board position has remained opened
since Diaz's resignation. Recently he has supported the nomination
of Iris Baez to fill the position.

Religion has played an important role in Diaz's life and he believes
it is the one of the main reasons why he judges his son, Ruben
Diaz Jr, a success as a member of the New York State Assembly.

"My son grew up in church with me and that has made him more
sensitive, more human, more bound to earth. Religion makes people
aware of their neighbors and conscious that someday they will
have to answer to someone."

Rodriguez, who is also running as a Democrat, said Diaz is using
his son's name to boost his campaign.

"I served the people on a volunteer basis for 10 years and after
I leave work I do community work. My neighbors are the ones who
encouraged me to run."

posted 6/6/01

Campaign
Update:

There are now eight candidates running for City Council district
18 in the South Bronx, including six Democratic candidates.

"Our community suffers total neglect from our elected officials"
said Barbara Jones, who has been Democratic District leader since
1992. "District 18 hasn't been represented adequately for the
past 12 years."

Jones hopes to decrease class size, build more schools, and expand
after-school programs to include not just homework assistance
but art activities as well. Jones would also like to see only
teachers, school administrators, and parents with children in
public school as members of the central Board of Education.

William Newmark, who is running under the Conservative party,
said he believes people in the district are ready for a change
because of unfulfilled promises made by Democratic elected officials.
Newmark favors of school vouchers because they create competition
and give parents a choice. "Anything the teacher's union opposes
is a good idea," said Newmark.

While some new homes have been built in the last few years in
the South Bronx, Newmark said that it is not enough and the only
way to increase home building is to get rid of rent stabilization
and have apartments rented on market price. "The liberals say
everybody's going to be thrown out on the street but in other
cities where they don't have rent stabilization, nobody is thrown
out on the street," said Newmark.

Democratic candidate Armando Montano said if he is elected he
would try to get parents more involved in the schools and hold
meetings on Saturdays if needed. He also believes members of the
central Board of Education should be elected rather than appointed.

The other Democratic candidates Hilda Hernandez, Lorraine Murphy
and Sandra Love did not respond to requests for interviews.

Love, who has been endorsed by State Senator Pedro Espada Jr.,
recently pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for filing erroneous
documents that illegally diverted a state grant to the Soundview
Health Center where she works. Love told local press that the
transfer was legitimate and that she pled guilty due to pressure
from the district attorney, to save money on legal fees, and to
spare her family from further embarrassment. The district attorney's
office said that "$6,000 of that money was funneled to the committee
to re-elect Pedro Espada Jr." Love maintains she used the money
for a Puerto Rican theater group.

"I also have worked very hard in the very community for the past
20 years I know the issues, I've lived the issues and I think
I would be the best candidate," Love said at July 9th press conference.
(See the Campaign Trail for more details.)

Posted 8/01/01

Candidate Biographies

Ruben Diaz is the pastor of Christian Community Neighborhood
Church. He founded the Christian Community Benevolent Association
in 1977, has operated three senior centers and a home attendant
program for 1,000 clients in addition to the South Bronx Senior
Transportation Network, which provides transportation for seniors.
Diaz is also the president of the New York Hispanic Clergy and
served on the Civilian Review Complaint Review Board

Hilda Hernandez (no information available)

Barbara Jones has been Democratic District leader in the
76th Assembly District since 1992. A former city employee, she
served as president of the Parkchester Chapter of the NAACP and
as secretary of BCFM-Black Citizens for a Fair Media.

Sandra D. Love is the senior vice-president of the Soundview
Healthcare Network.

Armando Montano, who runs a private law practice, served
for 16 years as legal counsel for former State Senator Larry Seabrook.
He has worked with the State Assembly Task force on Bilingual
education, and has assisted his community with legal council cases
involving the Latino Voting Rights Committee, Community District
12 and Latino Artists to save El Museo del Barrio. He received
his Bachelor's degree in City College and his law degree from
University of Pennsylvania.

Lorraine B. Murphy (no information available)

Elizabeth Rodriguez works as the Assistant to the Chairperson
and administrator at the Department of Rehab Medicine at New York
University School of Medicine. She is founder and president of
the East Bronx Community Action Committee, an organization formed
about 16 years ago because of the city's building of homeless
shelters in the Bronx. She has served as Community Board 9 Chairman
for the last eight years.

William Newmark, a private political consultant, was county
leader of the Bronx Conservative Party. He worked as an assistant
for 13 years for Senator Guy Vella.

Campaign Trail

8/28/01The New York Times today endorsed a candidate in this race.District 18 (Soundview, Parkchester, Castle Hill) "Armando
Montano, a lawyer with a strong record of public service, is by
far the best candidate. His competition includes the Rev. Ruben
Diaz Sr. the father of the area's assemblyman and the choice of
the county Democratic Party. Mr. Diaz has a track record of allowing
his conservative religious beliefs to shape his political views.
This district has long suffered from a lack of good representation
in the City Council. We believe that could change with the election
of Armando Montano."

7/19/01
State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. has endorsed Sandra Love for City
Council in district 18. Love recently pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor
charge that she filed erroneous documents that illegally diverted
the bulk of a $95,100 state grant to the Soundview Health Center,
money that had been earmarked for renovating the Teatro de Puerto
Rico in the borough. Love insists that the money went to Soundview
in order to reimburse the center for having saved the theater
in the first place and states that she can prove that. Love also
argues that she pleaded guilty due to pressure from District Attorney
Robert Johnson, as well as to save money on legal fees and to
save her family from further embarrassment. (Bronx
Press)

7/9/01
The Bronx district attorney's office says health care administrator
Sandra Love plead guilty to falsifying documents in order to obtain
a state grant. But Love says she plead guilty to filing a form
that had errors on it. Love, who is 18th District City Council
candidate, held a press conference, to clarify her plea bargain
and what she agreed to. (News
12 Interactive)

7/6/01
Sandra Love, who was acquitted of larceny with Espada last year
in an unrelated case, must reimburse the state Office of Parks,
Recreation and Historic Preservation $20,000 under the terms of
her plea. Acting state Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett is
expected to approve the plea deal at Love's sentencing on Oct.
4. (Daily
News)

5/10/01
Rev. Diaz protests with other ministers in front of Bronx school
where a teacher allegedly sexually assaulted students, Diaz blames
Central Board of Education and calls for abolishing it. (Bronx
Times)

4/28/01
Diallo mural repainted by Harlem artist just hours after someone
blotted out the controversial images.(New
York Times)

4/25/01
Diallo mural unveiled featured police officers hooded in Ku Klux
Klan white hoods and a statue holding a gun. The mural painted
by Harlem artist is called "The American Dream,"has spurred mixed
reactions from community members. (New
York Times)

4/25/01
Diallo mural unveiled featured police officers hooded in Ku Klux
Klan white hoods and a statue holding a gun. The mural painted
by Harlem artist is called "The American Dream." (Court
TV)

3/29/01
Castle Hill Community Group opposes the building of a Home Depot
in their neighborhood. Elizabeth Rodriguez holds a hearing at
community board 9 protesting the high traffic the store would
bring to the neighborhood. (Bronx
Times)

11/2/00
A ribbon cutting was held outside the new Castle Hill Medical
Center. The ceremony was hosted by former senator Pedro Espada,
Jr., founder and president of Castle Hill Medical Center, and
attended by dozens of residents. Sandra Love, the center's senior
vice president, led the group in a prayer. The new medical center
will temporarily replace the old center in Castle Hill, which
is currently undergoing renovations to expand the medical office
and build a youth center with wheelchair accessibility. (The
Bronx Times Reporter)

2/99
Bronx position in Civilian Complaint Review Board has remained
empty since Rev. Ruben Diaz resigned in 1996 for his public statements
against homosexuality. Bronx women nominated for the position.
(The
Bronx Beat)

3/17/97
Bronx lacks voice on police brutality since Rev. Diaz resigned
from his position on the Civilian Complaint Review Board in 1996,
the position has remained unfilled. (The
Bronx Beat)

Districts of the Week

District
1 -- Lower Manhattan
Whoever wins the election in district 1 will represent immigrant
Chinese garment workers, as well as Wall Street traders living
in Battery Park City. There are several candidates hoping
to be the council's firsts -- the first Asian-American man,
the first Asian-American woman, the first gay Rhodes Scholar,
the first dot-com guru -- running against some politically
well connected opponents. Endorsements and fundraising will
play a big role in this race. But voter turnout could be the
main determinant of who will next represent district 1 on
the council. The key question is how many voters from each
community will come out on Election Day.

District
7 -- Washington Heights, Manhattan
The northern tip of Manhattan has become one of the most popular
places for new immigrants to call home. The northern tip of
Manhattan is a place that today's new immigrants call home.
The majority have come from the Dominican Republic, but also
from countries in South America, Eastern Europe, and Asia.
But it is not just new immigrants that are moving in. Students,
artists, and other Manhattanites looking for less expensive
rents and larger apartments have also moved north. Ten Democratic
candidates are competing for the 15,000 voters expected on
primary day. The winner who emerges from a crowded field of
candidates will have to balance the needs of the newcomers
with those who have lived there for years.

District
16 -- Highbridge, Bronx
The neighborhoods of district 16 are the city's poorest, with
the highest rate of unemployment and the lowest median household
income. But those who live there also point out that much
is positive and stable about the area, thanks in large part
to local organizations, not-for-profit agencies, and houses
of worship that help hold the neighborhoods together. Each
candidate for City Council believes that through his or her
connections to churches and local organizations, they can
help empower the community toward a better life. Helen Foster,
the current council member daughter, will face Michael Benjamin,
who has worked as an aide to several government officials
and Anthony Curry, a Bronx neighborhood activist.

District
20 -- Northeast Flushing, Queens
This year district 20 may elect the first Asian-American ever
to the City Council to an area which now has the second highest
number of immigrants from Korea and Taiwan in the city. There
are three Asian candidates in the Democratic race who have
each drawn big endorsements. Council Speaker Peter Vallone
endorsed Terence Park, City Comptroller Alan Hevesi endorsed
John Liu, and the New York Times recently endorsed Ethel Chen
The campaign has also drawn national and international press
coverage

District
25 -- Jackson Heights, Queens
Thirty-seventh Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens is one of
the most diverse streets in the world. Little India quickly
blends into Little Colombia, with vendors selling Latin American
food to Colombians, Peruvians, Ecuadorians, Mexicans, and
Uruguayans. And each summer, the Queens Pride Parade fills
the same street with rainbow banners. So it is no surprise
that this election year the district produced a diverse field
of candidates. A number of them, however, found out that getting
on the ballot is not an easy task, especially when the Queens
Democratic organization sends teams of lawyers to challenge
petitions. But five Democratic candidates survived and will
face off on September 11.

District
31 -- South East Queens
When a heavy rain hits southeast Queens, many residents in
neighborhoods like Springfield Gardens, Laurelton and Rosedale
head to the basement with a bucket in hand. And it has been
that way for the last 50 years. In the rush to build housing
in the area after World War II, developers overlooked the
need for storm drains in hopes that the city would eventually
build a city-wide sewer system. The plan never materialized
and the area has experienced "100-year rains" three times
in the last decade. The eight Democrats -- all with little
experience overseeing massive infrastructure projects--will
try to convince voters that they can finally solve the flooding
problems.

District
35 -- Central Brooklyn
The residents in council district 35 have some of the highest
incomes in Brooklyn and some of the lowest. They can play
in a famous park and a beautiful botanical garden, and live
in the city's most crumbling public housing. They can attend
one of the four institutions of higher learning in the district,
and the worst-scoring high schools in the city. Such juxtapositions
are a way of life for a district that includes the Brooklyn
Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Brooklyn Botanical
Gardens; mid dle-class African-American communities near Prospect
Park; immigrant communities from Haiti, Sierra Leon, Nigeria,
and Trinidad, and in Crown Heights, a mix of Hasidic Jews
and African-Americans. Seven Democratic candidates are campaigning
in hopes that they can bring some kind of unity, and attention,
to the area. Their backgrounds are as diverse as the neighborhoods
themselves.

District
39 -- Park Slope/Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
The candidates in district 39 include a chief of staff for
an Assemblywoman, the husband of a member of U.S. Congress,
a lawyer for the Legal Aid Society, an attorney and president
of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, Senator Hillary
Clinton's campaign manager, the district manager of Community
Board 6, and a labor organizer. This is the race to watch
this year. The group of high-profile Democrats have raised
a lot of money, almost $1.4 million combined.

District
45 -- East Flatbush
In no place in the city are the effects of campaign finance
reform and term limits being felt more than in East Flatbush.
The seven Democratic candidates seeking to represent this
largely West Indian district come from a number of Caribbean
nations. Many have been working on politicians' staffs and
serving with community groups, clearly hoping someday to win
their own elected office. Term limits has presented them with
that opportunity, and they want to make the most of it. But
this race that usually draws only about 8,000 voters could
be decided by just a few votes. The candidates are attempting
to come up with anything that will separate them from the
pack.

District
49 -- North Shore, Staten Island
Staten Island has always been somewhat of a suburban stepchild
to New York City. When a 1998 survey asked New Yorkers why
they go to Staten Island, the top two responses were ''visiting
friends and relatives" and ''passing through.'' But in many
ways, the north shore has more in common with areas of Manhattan
and Brooklyn than with the rest of the Staten Island. The
top priority for all the candidates -- Jon Del Giorno, an
administrative manager for the Board of Elections, Mike McMahon,
an attorney and counsel to current Councilmember Jerome O'Donovan,
and Debi Rose, an administrator at the College of Staten Island
and the first African-American candidate in Staten Island
politics -- is to make sure that the island becomes more than
just a turn-around-point for the over one million tourists
who ride the free ferry from Manhattan each year.

American
Dream Party (AMD)
Better Schools Party (BES)
Communist (Com)
Conservative (Con)
Constitution (CST)
Democratic (Dem)
Friends United Party (FUN)
Fusion Party (FUS)
Green (Gre)
Harmony Party (HAR)
Independence (Ind)
Liberal (Lib)
Libertarian (LBT)
Marijuana Reform Party (POT)
Natural Law Party (NLP)
Party of Ethics and Traditions (PET)
Reform Party (Ref)
Republican (Rep)
Right to Life (RTL)
School Choice Party (Sch)
Socialist Workers Party (SWP)
Working Families (Wor)

2001 Election
Calendar

June
1 -- Deadline for candidates to join the Campaign Finance
program, qualifying for the four-to-one match of contributions.June
5 - First day for candidates from the eight major parties
(Democratic, Republican, Indpendence, Conservative, Liberal,
Green, Working Families, and Right to Life) to circulate
petitions. Candidates running for City Council must collect
the signatures of at least 900 people living in the district
for which they are running in order to appear on the Primary
ballot. Candidates not running under these eight major parties
do not appear on the Primary ballot and have a separate
set of deadlines.July 12 - Deadline for major party candidates to
file petitions.July 10 - First day for unaffiliated candidates to
circulate petitions, in order to appear on the ballot in
the General Election. They must collect the number of signatures
equal to five percent of the total enrolled in that party.August 7 - Board of Elections announces candidates
appearing on the Primary ballot. August 17 - Last day for non-absentee voters to register
to vote in the Primary Election. August 21 - Deadline for non-major party candidates
to file petitions to be included on the General Election
ballot. September 4 - Last day to postmark application for
absentee voting in the Primary September 10 - Last day to personally deliver application
for absentee voting in the Primary Last day to postmark
absentee ballot for Primary September 11 - Primary election; Polls open at 6:00a.m.
and close at 9:00p.m.; Absentee ballots must be hand-delivered
by 9:00 p.m. September 25 - Runoff Primary election for Mayor,
Comptroller and Public Advocate, if needed October 12 - Last day to for non-absentee voters
to register to vote in the General Election October 30 - Last day to postmark application for
absentee voting in the General Election November 5 - Last day to hand-deliver an application
for absentee voting, or to postmark an absentee ballot for
the General Election. November 6 - General Election; polls open at 6:00a.m.
and close at 9:00p.m. in NYC; Absentee ballots must be hand-delivered
by 9:00 p.m.